Military Chaplains Can Now Officiate Same-Sex Weddings

It didn't take long after the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell for the U.S. military to settle its policy on whether it will hold same-sex weddings. Ten days after the ban on gay soldiers serving openly was lifted, the Pentagon says chaplains can officiate same-sex marriages if they don't go against the chaplain's own belief. But according to CNN, the two-paragraph memo from Under Secretary of Defense Clifford Stanley "carefully stops short of fully embracing the idea of same-sex marriage, saying that 'a military chaplain's participation in a private ceremony does not constitute an endorsement of the ceremony by DoD.' " That's the Department of Defense, of course. The move straightens out a bit of confusion the Navy got into in May, when it initially approved same-sex weddings, but then rescinded that order after Republican congressmen objected. The new order means same-sex weddings are a go for all branches of the service.